Archive for June, 2008

Hello, readers. In a few hours, I’ll be heading off on a week’s vacation. In the interest of my own mental health, I’ll be keeping my exposure to the internet to a minimum, and posting will therefore be pretty slim. But! Feel free to use this post’s comment space to discuss all the latest transit […]

From the Examiner: The Districtâ€™s long-standing system of taking students to school on Metrobus would be prohibited under a federal proposal to tighten the rules that govern public transit agencies. The stricter Federal Transit Administration rules, which just completed the public comment process, would apply to all transit systems that receive federal funds and could […]

A step in the right direction: The first vote, on a bill to expand funding for mass transit, passed by a margin of 322-98. It authorize a $750 million increase in funding for 2008 and 2009 for mass transit systems in cities with a population over 200,000 and $100 million for non-urban areas. It would […]

From the FT: Soaring energy prices are forcing Procter & Gamble to rethink how it distributes its products, with the worldâ€™s biggest consumer goods company shifting manufacturing sites closer to consumers to cut its transport bill. Keith Harrison, head of global supply at P&G, the maker of Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste and Pampers, said the […]

Bloomberg: Poll respondents pin most of the blame for the 35 percent surge in gas prices over the last year on President George W. Bush, according to the poll. Almost 3 in 10 singled out Bush as the one responsible, followed by the oil companies, identified by 25 percent, and speculators, by 13 percent. Only […]

One never knows but… Over the next four years, we are likely to witness the greatest mass exodus of vehicles off Americaâ€™s highways in history. By 2012, there should be some 10 million fewer vehicles on American roadways than there are todayâ€”a decline that dwarfs all previous adjustments including those during the two OPEC oil […]

A friend directs me to this blog post, commenting on yesterday’s New York Times crisis-in-the-suburbs story: But does this spell the end of Suburban Nation?Â I doubt it.Â More fuel-efficient vehicles and the dramatic growthÂ of telework/telecommute will begin to offset the impacts of high gas prices.Â Most jobs are still dispersed away from central cities.Â […]

Perhaps you’ve seen that the Supreme Court overturned the District’s gun ban. Several things to note: 1) Gun control laws are without a doubt effective at reducing gun crimes and homicides. 2) On the other hand, the District’s law was entirely futile, given that it borders a state with some of the loosest gun laws […]